BBTF.org/m/olympics : IOC board to recommend 2 new sports for 2016 Games

Monday, February 25, 2013

Globe: In nonprofit game, many athletes post losing records

(www.boston.com)

posted on February 25, 2013 at 07:36 PM by villageidiom to charity, dodgers, nba, nfl, olympics, red sox, yankees | 62 comment(s)

A decent read, if only scratching the surface of the issue. I’ve always been curious just how much money raised goes to charities directly, versus going to fund activities which in turn help the charity, versus going to fund “administrative costs”.

In some cases athlete charitable foundations are accomplishing a lot, sometimes after very non-productive starts. In other cases, calling them charities is being… er, charitable.

...just 37 cents of every dollar raised by the Josh Beckett ...

Reader Comments and Retorts

Go to end of page

Statements posted here are those of our readers and do not represent the BaseballThinkFactory. Names are provided by the poster and are not verified. We ask that posters follow our submission policy. Please report any inappropriate comments.

1. Tripon posted on March 28, 2009 at 01:28 AM # hit 0 | hit 0

I don't get why they're limiting two. Karate would be easy to put together in any city. There's always an golf course near a city. If you're choosing Chicago, or Tokyo, there are already built stadiums for baseball/softball, same for a Rugby field. And the costs to make a roller staking rink can't be that much. Why the heck aren't the Olympics more inclusive?

2. Eugene Freedman

posted on March 28, 2009 at 01:31 AM # hit 0 | hit 0

I don't know if competitive scoring is any different, but Tae Kwon Do is already in the Olympics. It is the same as Karate, only the Korean derivation. Koreans call all of their martial arts by Korean names despite many of them originating in Japan and some of those originating in China. There is a lot of animosity over the occupation of Korea by Japanese forces, when many of these martial arts were introduced to indoctrinate Japanese culture on the Koreans. Some Koreans even claim to have invented both Kendo and Judo, for which they have only slightly different names for Kumdo and Yudo respectively. Adding Karate to the Olympics would be superfluous at best.

3. Guts

posted on March 28, 2009 at 01:31 AM # hit 0 | hit 0

Rugby sevens would be an awesome Olympic sport, and it would allow a country that doesn't win a lot of medals to pick one up. I'm not sure which country, though - maybe New Zealand. Or Australia.

4. Tripon posted on March 28, 2009 at 01:32 AM # hit 0 | hit 0

First time I heard Tae Kwon Do referred to be the same as Karate.

5. Walt Davis posted on March 28, 2009 at 01:54 AM # hit 0 | hit 0

Rugby sevens are an abomination! Might as well add indoor soccer.

it would allow a country that doesn't win a lot of medals to pick one up. I'm not sure which country, though - maybe New Zealand. Or Australia.

Oz is usually around #4-5 in the medal count in the summer olympics (5th in 2008). NZ almost always picks up a few golds (3/1/5 in 2008). Nobody here takes 7s seriously ... and rightly so ... but I suppose they'd put together a good team for the Olympics.

Would give Fiji a shot at a medal.

6. Crispix Attacks 2: Swag Airlines posted on March 28, 2009 at 02:28 AM # hit 0 | hit 0

Rugby sevens? That could compete with Australian rules football for a spot in the Olympics. Australia might win the first infinity gold medals in that, but Nauru would have a chance for a bronze!

7. Jarrod HypnerotomachiaPoliphili(Teddy F. Ballgame) posted on March 28, 2009 at 02:28 AM # hit 0 | hit 0

Shorthanded rugby doesn't have much reason to be in the Olympics, but the rest of these sports should all be part of the festivities. I realize there's not room for every activity under the sun, but the games are about inclusiveness.

8. Tripon posted on March 28, 2009 at 02:30 AM # hit 0 | hit 0

The olympics should be able to switch out sports depending on the cities that win the bid. Chicago and Tokyo won the bid? Baseball's in. Wait, Rio won instead? Okay, baseball's out due to lack of a capable field, etc.

9. Crispix Attacks 2: Swag Airlines posted on March 28, 2009 at 02:36 AM # hit 0 | hit 0

Other than that, I think the Olympics should just rotate in ridiculously niche sports every year.

Absolutely. Trampolining has already outstayed its welcome. Time for kickball, or Nickelodeon GUTS, or 3-D chess, or the return of tug-of-war.

10. Tripon posted on March 28, 2009 at 02:37 AM # hit 0 | hit 0

Get rid of rhythmic gymnastics. Now that is an embarrassment. To replace it will be, we shall have Chess boxing.

11. vortex of dissipation posted on March 28, 2009 at 02:44 AM # hit 0 | hit 0

Well, at least there are no British. Maybe Baseball stands a chance.

Why do you assume that someone from the UK would oppose baseball?

12. Tripon posted on March 28, 2009 at 02:49 AM # hit 0 | hit 0

Why do you assume that someone from the UK would oppose baseball?

The British Olympic baseball team had a chance to go to the last round of the primarily, but didn't go because they wouldn't have qualified for the Olympics anyway, So the UK wouldn't fund the trip.

13. Gamingboy posted on March 28, 2009 at 02:50 AM # hit 0 | hit 0

I heard that some international events have a setup where there is a list of sports that are certified, and outside of stuff like Track & Field and Swimming none of them are required. Instead, what sports are contested depends on what facilities are already available or the Host City is willing to build. I'm of the opinion that the Olympics should do something like that.

So, like, let's say the Olympics did that. A city like Chicago or Tokyo could conceivably do basically every sport on the list with only having to build about 2 or 3 things. On the flip side, if Rio were picked it'd be up to them whether to build a Baseball stadium.

Tripon beat me to it.

14. Crispix Attacks 2: Swag Airlines posted on March 28, 2009 at 02:53 AM # hit 0 | hit 0

Baseball is going to get beaten out by six-day bicycle racing, I can tell already. That sport is still alive in Europe, and the UK has gone crazy for some guy who won several medals at Beijing in the 150,000 different bicycle races that nobody notices.

15. Dan Szymborski

posted on March 28, 2009 at 02:57 AM # hit 0 | hit 0

Time for kickball, or Nickelodeon GUTS

It'd be so awesome to get to introduce oneself as an "Aggro Crag Bronze Medalist."

16. The District Attorney posted on March 28, 2009 at 02:57 AM # hit 0 | hit 0

we shall have Chess boxing.

Shhh! That's supposed to be a mystery.

17. McCoy Wilfong for Money posted on March 28, 2009 at 02:58 AM # hit 0 | hit 0

Golf would seem like a no brainer and is bound to be more desirable to a TV audience than most of the other options. Provided of course that the pros play.

18. vortex of dissipation posted on March 28, 2009 at 03:20 AM # hit 0 | hit 0

The British Olympic baseball team had a chance to go to the last round of the primarily, but didn't go because they wouldn't have qualified for the Olympics anyway, So the UK wouldn't fund the trip.

Thanks - I wasn't aware of that happening last year. That really, really sucked...

GB's Olympic baseball dream ends

19. Crispix Attacks 2: Swag Airlines posted on March 28, 2009 at 03:35 AM # hit 0 | hit 0

The UK is going to be the worst place in the world to watch the Olympics on TV in 2012. They win just about all their medals in events where the competitors are sitting down and the spectators are nonexistent. Cycling, sailing, rowing, equestrian...even their gymnast who medalled did so in the pommel horse. So I imagine those events are all going to be on TV, to the bemusement of millions.

20. flournoy posted on March 28, 2009 at 03:57 AM # hit 0 | hit 0

I'd like for all of those sports to be added, plus racquetball. The more the merrier.

21. SoSHially Unacceptable posted on March 28, 2009 at 05:03 AM # hit 0 | hit 0

Golf would seem like a no brainer and is bound to be more desirable to a TV audience than most of the other options. Provided of course that the pros play.

It seems I've read where most of the pros are rather ambivalent, at best, about golf in the Olympics.

22. Biff, highly-regarded young guy posted on March 28, 2009 at 05:11 AM # hit 0 | hit 0

Nickelodeon GUTS

Will we get Mike O'Malley as the announcer? More importantly, will the Aggro Crag be a real mountain?

23. Tripon posted on March 28, 2009 at 05:12 AM # hit 0 | hit 0

I don't know why golfers can't treat Olympic golf like any other week on the course.

24. Justin T is expanding the aperture of awareness posted on March 28, 2009 at 05:19 AM # hit 0 | hit 0

Would they be allowed to wear their TaylorMade hats, and Barclay's polos?

25. jwb posted on March 28, 2009 at 05:19 AM # hit 0 | hit 0

The lack of a six figure payday.

26. Gainsay posted on March 28, 2009 at 05:27 AM # hit 0 | hit 0

I've always wanted to see the combination sport of trampoline/shotgun target shooting. Probably wouldn't be the most spectator friendly sport though.

27. Obama Bomaye posted on March 28, 2009 at 06:13 AM # hit 0 | hit 0

Shhh! That's supposed to be a mystery.

Would shadowboxing be alright?

28. Pops Freshenmeyer posted on March 28, 2009 at 01:25 PM # hit 0 | hit 0

Adding Karate to the Olympics would be superfluous at best.

I imagine there must be a significantly different scoring system or all the world's elite TKD will simply have two sports. Whatever happened to sumo wrestling's push to be added to the olympics? I seem to recall a big controversy over the IOC's insistence on weight divisions many years ago.

Some Koreans even claim to have invented both Kendo and Judo

That's odd considering Judo has a recognized individual founder, Jigoro Kano.

29. Lassus posted on March 28, 2009 at 01:49 PM # hit 0 | hit 0

I think it's time for a resurgence of JARTS to an olympic level. But only if played by 8-year-olds.

30. Gamingboy posted on March 28, 2009 at 03:03 PM # hit 0 | hit 0

I think it's time to bring back the Pankretion.

(Ironically, some people in MMA have begun efforts to get MMA into the olympics by arguing it is the closest thing to Pankretion in modern sports)

31. cercopithecus aethiops posted on March 28, 2009 at 03:07 PM # hit 0 | hit 0

Dodgeball.

32. Gamingboy posted on March 28, 2009 at 03:10 PM # hit 0 | hit 0

Problem with Dodgeball is that there are too many different types of rules? Do we use the Dodgeball from the Movie starring Vince Vaughn and Ben Stiller? The old Video Game Dodgeball? Schoolyard Dodgeball?

33. Honkie Kong posted on March 28, 2009 at 04:05 PM # hit 0 | hit 0

I am quite surprised Squash is not an olympic sport! And it should be. So I vote for squash.

34. aleskel

posted on March 28, 2009 at 04:20 PM # hit 0 | hit 0

I am quite surprised Squash is not an olympic sport! And it should be. So I vote for squash.

squash is a terrific sport, but I can tell you that it is one of the lousiest sports to watch.

35. Scott Kazmir's breaking balls posted on March 28, 2009 at 04:36 PM # hit 0 | hit 0

I don't know why golfers can't treat Olympic golf like any other week on the course.

There's no money in it.

36. Greg (U)K posted on March 28, 2009 at 04:49 PM # hit 0 | hit 0

Rugby sevens would be an awesome Olympic sport, and it would allow a country that doesn't win a lot of medals to pick one up. I'm not sure which country, though - maybe New Zealand. Or Australia.

If Australia counts as a team that doesn't win a lot of medals, I'd hate to know what you think of Canada.

37. Gamingboy posted on March 28, 2009 at 07:43 PM # hit 0 | hit 0

There's no money in it.

Unless they get big-time endorsement deals. Which only the winner would get, more than likely.

38. CraigK posted on March 28, 2009 at 08:24 PM # hit 0 | hit 0

I don't know how to play squash or racquetball, so everytime I go to the gym, I just find an empty room and see how many times in a row I can bounce the ball off the wall.

Anyone else to this?

39. Phil Coorey. posted on March 28, 2009 at 11:02 PM # hit 0 | hit 0

Australia does just fine in the olympics. Rugby sevens is a waste of time. Golf has 4 majors, it needs no more attention. It would be about as important there as tennis is.

40. Gamingboy posted on March 28, 2009 at 11:08 PM # hit 0 | hit 0

Golf has 4 majors, it needs no more attention. It would be about as important there as tennis is.

Had a Federer-Nadal final materialized in Beijing, it would have been important.

Come to think of it, any tennis match not involving those two is unimportant, it seems.

41. bob gee posted on March 28, 2009 at 11:50 PM # hit 0 | hit 0

i played collegiate squash years ago, and was fortunate enough to watch top collegiate players (as well as top pros when they held a tournament in the world financial center, and i think at grand central station?) but agree with #35. at the top level, you get the occasional brilliant shot, but everything else is just ridiculously tight rail shots, ridiculously low cross-court/3 wall shots, waiting for the other player to *just* miss and make a mistake.

42. flournoy posted on March 29, 2009 at 12:18 AM # hit 0 | hit 0

I don't know how to play squash or racquetball, so everytime I go to the gym, I just find an empty room and see how many times in a row I can bounce the ball off the wall.

Find someone who knows how to play racquetball and have him teach you. Best game in the world.

43. AJM posted on March 29, 2009 at 12:48 AM # hit 0 | hit 0

Nickelodeon GUTS

Or at least Legends Of the Hidden Temple. Bonus if they use an actual temple.

You must be Registered and Logged In to post comments.

/m/olympics

Monday, February 25, 2013

Globe: In nonprofit game, many athletes post losing records

Reader Comments and Retorts

Olympics Think Factory